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confession and pardon: walk by faith and not by sight

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Prayer of Confession
God who knows each heart, you call us to walk by faith and not by sight, giving us new vision that goes deeper than outward appearance; yet how often we remain blind, returning to a human point of view, relying instead on our society’s signs of right or wrong, success or failure.  We miss your warning signals of internal corruption or moral deficiency in those in whom we put our trust.
Forgive us, O God.  Become our Vision as we keep learning to walk by faith. Teach us to observe ourselves and others as you do, with prudence and wisdom as well as compassion and love, so that your deeper way of seeing might grow within us and among us, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Silent Prayer   
Assurance of Grace
Just as Paul reminded the Corinthians of their new way of seeing, he told them that anyone in Christ is a new creation, that everything old is passed away, and all is made new!
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.Thanks be to God. 

confession: easy as Holy Holy Holy

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Holy, holy, holy God, the words of praise slip easily from our lips.  You are almighty!  You are glorious!  You dwell in holy splendor!  But as we are swept up in those lofty words, we can miss the point.  Because we can describe you, we start to think that we can understand you.  And then we think we can predict your actions, and expect your favor, and control your mercy. Holy God, forgive us for limiting our vision of you:  for only acknowledging your presence some of the time, for refusing to see the complexities of your blessings, and for praying only for the people we think are worthy of our concern.  Close our lips and turn our eyes to gaze on you in awe and wonder, so that we may receive your love and your grace, not as facts to understand but as gifts to treasure.  We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior.  Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Eric Beene, White Bluff Presbyterian Church, Savannah, GA.

confession: change

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One:      Holy God, you call us to change our hearts and lives, to return to you.

All:      So often we like the way things are,
and we aren’t sure what changing our way
and following you would mean.

One:      You promise new life for all,

All:      but sometimes we decide who is good and who is bad,
closing off your love for ourselves and others.

One:      You call us to seek your heart,
to allow ourselves to be born anew in your Spirit.

All:      So often we live in the literal meaning of your words,
rather than letting the spirit of your word live in us.
Come and dwell within us,
and transform us from the inside out. Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.

morning prayer: the table we surround

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God of imagination and creativity…
we gather from many different places…
we gather from many different contexts and situations…
we gather with many different questions,
and many different hopes…
but we’re all here for the same reason…
to discover the joy of a
safe, barrier-free, intentional community.

This table we surround
has reminded us this week
that life is not always as you intend it to be.

We often encounter these same signs.
No Trespassing!
Keep Out!
Private Property!
Under Surveillance!

And when we’re not encountering them ourselves,
we’re nailing them to our own fences.

This table we surround
has reminded us this week
that life is not always as you intend it to be.

And yet,
it also paints for us
your perfect vision for creation.

A vision that does not exclude.

A vision that celebrates the good-ness of your creation.

A vision that does not reach full satisfaction
until everyone has sat…
until everyone has eaten…
until everyone has drank…
and until everyone has loved and been loved.

So help us all…this day…
to fully discover your image within us…
to draw our own pictures…
to paint it with our fingers…
to color outside the lines with our jumbo boxes of crayons…
and to make it all into one, big, messy…
yet absolutely perfect…
collage of creation
that dares to challenge our deep-rooted prejudices
and quiets the cacophony of pre-conceived notions
that plague our minds.

Give us the courage
to embrace the energy and enthusiasm
that flows deep within us…
so that our discussions today
might inspire us…
transform us…
and move us forward.

We look for this inspiration…
even now…
as we gaze upon the Christ…
whose words and actions
challenge us to a life
that moves each of us far beyond ourselves
toward every OTHER that surrounds us…
even now…
as we sing that familiar prayer of Jesus together…

(We closed with a sung version of “The Lord’s Prayer”)

Submitted by Scott Cervas, pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church (Lexington, KY), this prayer was used in a morning prayer service at Unconference East at Stony Point Conference center (Stony Point, NY) on May 22, 2012.

prayer for wholeness: we are not alone

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Prayer for Wholeness

The signposts of our lives cry out “Danger!” “Keep out!” “Detour!” “Stop!” We’re told to proceed with caution and keep our hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. We hit roadblocks and wonder if we’re doing the right thing. Maybe we need to recalculate the map… but how can we if we don’t know what our final destination is? How can we if we’re so set on our final destination that we don’t see the dirt roads wandering off to possibilities unknown? We want to re-imagine, re-think, re-member; but we don’t want to get stuck in our own journey and forget our siblings who are also struggling or who have walked this journey before. When we lift up our heads, we see we are not alone. A vast community journeys with us—some of whom look like us and think like us and many of whom do not. God created us. Jesus calls us to follow. The Spirit pushes us into places we don’t always want to go, but go we must. We don’t go alone.

Assurance

Beloved, I assure you God is present in this community, has been present during all of Unco, and will be present with us as we continue our journeys. God hears our prayers and longs for us to draw closer… closer to Her and closer to each other. Amen.

 

submitted by Emily Morgan, for Unco12’s closing worship.